The War of 1812 in a Nutshell

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The War of 1812 in a Nutshell
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Canada and the War of 1812

• The War of 1812 was basically Canadas War of
  Independence
• For the Americans it was a war of conquest
• For Canadians it was a war of survival
• Between 1812 and 1814, Canada won the right to
  not be American

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The Lead-up to War

• Louis XVI helped the Americans with their
  American Revolution was now in the middle of a
  revolution of his own.
• During the French Revolution Louis and his wife
  Marie Antoinette had their heads chopped off by a
  guillotine
• A ruthless little general named Napoleon seized
  power and launched France on a European war of
  conquest.

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The War of 1812

• What is important to realize, from a Canadian
  perspective, is this
• The French Revolution led to the Napoleonic Wars
  of 1793-1815
• The War of 1812 was the North American phase of
  this conflict
• With Britain bogged down in Europe fighting
  Napoleon, the Americans saw their chance at
  capturing Canada and they took it.

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Free trade and sailors rights

• The Americans also had some genuine grievances
  against the British
• The British were preventing France from trading
  with the United States
• The British Navy had also asserted its right to
  board foreign ships and press any British
  citizens they found into military service.
• In 1807, they fired upon a U.S. vessel, the
  Chesapeake, killing several men, before boarding
  the ship and arresting four so-called deserters
  two of whom were American citizens. Britain later
  apologized, and released the Americans but the
  damage had been done

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A Mere Matter of Marching

• American history books usually portray the United
  States as the underdog in 1812. Why? Because they
  were up against the British Empire
• This isnt entirely accurate. Great Britain was
  tied up in Europe, and Canada lay poorly defended
  and exposed.
• Consider the real odds
• Population of the United States 7.5 million
• Population of Upper Canada less than 80,000
• The entire population of the British North
  American colonies combined was less than 1
  million
• How could the Americans possibly lose?

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War!

• On June 18, 1812 the United States of America
  declared war on Great Britain and made
  immediate plans for the Conquest of Canada
• Remember Canada didnt exist as a separate
  country at this point

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The War in Upper Canada (Ontario)

• The original Loyalist population of Upper Canada
  had been swamped by an influx of American
  settlers whose true loyalty remained in doubt
• Fortunately (for Canada) the U.S. forces were
  very poorly organized and launched scattered
  attacks rather than focusing their approach
• Most of the battles took place along the boarder
  between the United States and the British North
  American Colonies (Canada)

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General Isaac Brock

• Brock was the man in charge of defending the
  colony from the American invaders
• He was a brilliant strategist and an inspiring
  leader
• Isaac Brock was long remembered as the fallen
  hero and saviour of Upper Canada

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Tecumseh

• Tecumseh was a Shawnee chief that was allied with
  the British
• His main goals were to
• Stop American expansion into Native territory
• To secure a sovereign First Nations Confederacy
  in the interior.
• He brought together dozens of different Nations
  and fought along side the British for tactical
  reasons, not loyalty.

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Bluffing their way to victory

• The Americans were confident that the Canadians
  would flock over to the American side of the
  fight but they didnt!
• Brock had an idea there werent very many
  British regular soldiers so he dressed Canadian
  militia in the red coats of the regular army to
  make them seem like they were professional
  soldiers
• He also knew that the Americans were terrified of
  the Natives and Brock and Tecumseh used this to
  their advantage
• Tecumseh paraded his men in front of the American
  Garrison then led them through the woods to join
  the end of the line again. Then they marched past
  again. Tecumseh marched the same men by three
  times and the Americans never caught on
• Their estimates of Tecumsehs forces ranged as
  high as 3000 warriors. In fact, Tecumseh had
  fewer than 600 men on hand.

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The Capture of Detroit

• No attack was needed.
• General Hull was so scared of an Indian Massacre
  that he caved almost immediately
• All it took were a few cannon shots and a
  threatening ultimatum from Brock.

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Battles

• August 18, 1812 - Brock and Tecumseh capture
  Detroit
• October 13, 1812 - Battle of Queenston Heights
  Americans ultimately pushed back, but Brock dies
• April 27, 1813 General Dearborn captures York
  (Toronto)
• June 6, 1813 Battle of Stoney Creek American
  advance stopped cold
• June 24, 1813 Battle of Beaver Dams Americans
  turned back
• July 31, 1813 Americans re-capture York
  (Toronto)
• October 5, 1813 Battle of Moraviantown
  Tecumseh dies
• October 25, 1813 Battle of Chateauguay
  American invasion force defeated by French and
  English Canadians
• November 11, 1813 Battle of Cryslers Farm
  Americans defeated
• July 25, 1814 Battle of Lundys Lane a
  confusing and bloody conflict that ends in a
  stalemate (though both sides claim they won)
• August 1814 British capture and burn Washington
  

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Burn, Washington! Burn!

• Why is the White House white? Because we burned
  it, thats why! Or at least, the British did. In
  August 1814, and in direct retaliation for what
  the Americans had done in York, the British
  captured and burned Washington D.C. The attack
  came as a complete surprise, and President
  Madison and most of his defending army ran away
  so fast the battle became known, sarcastically,
  as a race. The British spent the next two days
  ransacking the U.S. capital and torching the
  public buildings. When the Presidents own
  residence was badly damaged and the walls
  scorched, the building was hastily rebuilt and
  the exterior painted over with whitewash. It
  became known as the white house

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So Who Won?

• Do you want to know the strange thing about the
  War of 1812? The Americans think they won it.
  Really.
• Do you want to know whats even stranger? Theyre
  right. Not in a military sense of course.
• On the battlefield, the Americans lost. They
  didnt even come close to their goal the
  conquest of Canada
• But war is after all a political tool, and what
  counts in the end are the long term results, not
  individual heroics

• The United States lost a war and won a
  conference.
• Britains First Nation allies were completely
  shut out of the negotiations
• So were the Canadians
• The Americans had refused to allow either at the
  bargaining table.
• The United States came away with their soverignty
  reaffirmed

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The Final Score

• Who won? Who lost? The final score stands like
  this
• The Americans won
• The Canadians broke even
• The First Nations lost